PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority has granted ASX-listed Hastings Technology Metals key environmental permits for its Yangibana rare earths project, in the Gascoyne region, allowing for early site work to start.
Hastings said on Monday that it had received approval from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation of its flora and vegetation environmental management plan, and approval from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety for a revised mining proposal.
The flora and vegetation environmental management plan sets out the environmental objectives to be achieved and specifies management actions that will be implemented to achieve compliance. Hastings has prepared management targets and monitoring programmes to measure the effectiveness of the management actions. The management plan has been informed by best practice and recent experience on similar mining projects in Western Australia.
The mining proposal, in turn, details the proposed activities on site and environmental management measures to ensure Hastings meets its tenement obligations under the Mining Act.
The one-million-tonne-a-year Yangibana operation is expected to produce about 15 000 t/y of mixed rare earth carbonate, and about 8 850 t/y of total rare earth oxides, with Hastings previously estimating a capital spend of A$517-million to bring the project online.
Project construction is scheduled to start in mid-2022, ahead of a 24-month construction period.